Simple arbitrary-precision calculator

This is a simple arbitrary-precision calculator that is capable of handling fractions. Commands are read from left to right, i.e. "2+3*4" is interpreted as "(2+3)*4" (you will want to use a lot of brackets!). Compile using

make

install with (root privileges required)

make install

Run the program using ./mgcalc, or, if you have used make install,

mgcalc

No arguments are accepted. You can then enter commands. If you enter something that can be calculated, the result will be shown immediately. If the exact output is used, mgcalc will always output a fraction. Example:

2+3*4

20/1

... which is correct since (2+3)*4 = 20 and mgcalc always reads from left to right. (Multiplication does not precede addition.) Another example:

5/(4+(2/8 + 1))

40/42

It is possible to suppress the output of fractions using

$echo off

Output can be re-enabled using

$echo

It's also possible to redirect output to a file using

$file out.txt

To go back to stdout, use

$file

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is possible to use long division to express the result of a calculation as a decimal number. Example:

5/(4+(2/8 + 1))

40/42

$div 10

0.9523809523

The argument given to $div (here: 10) specifies the number of decimal places. $echo off does not suppress the output of the long division. For example, consider approximating Euler's number e:

$echo off

1 + (1/(1!0)) + (1/(2!0)) + (1/(3!0)) + (1/(4!0)) + (1/(5!0))

$div 2

2.71

Note three things: First of all, you want to use a lot of brackets. Secondly, since +, -, *, /, ^ are strictly binary, so is ! (factorial) -- sorry! Obviously, the second argument to ! is meaningless, i.e. it can be anything. If you type "5!0", it is just 5! = 120. Thirdly, note that "$echo off" does not suppress the output of $div. It only suppressed the output of the fraction after line 2.

That's all. There are no limitations other than those implied by your hardware. You could do the following, although I am not sure why you would:

$echo off

$file out.txt

(1/(2+(1/(2+(1/(2+(1/(2+(1/(2+(1/(2+(1/(2+(1/(2+(1/(2+(1/(2+3))))))))))))))))))))^(1+(2*(1+(2*(1+(2*(1+(2*(1+(2*(1+(2*(1+(2*3))))))))))))))

$div 1000000

• Make factorial more unary
• Rewrite some algorithms
• Parallelization